England find themselves on the edge after their harakiri against South Africa, losing from a definite driver’s seat with 25 needed off 18 deliveries with 6 wickets in hand at one point of time. The defending champions are now in a situation where a simple win against the USA may not get them through to the semis.
A win for England and for South Africa (over West Indies) will be enough for the former to qualify. But in case South Africa lose, NRR will come into the picture. However, with the difference in NRRs between the English and the Proteas being around 0.2, barring any Super-Over finishes and ultra close contests, an England win and a South Africa loss should be enough for the former to go through.
England would dearly need Jos Buttler to step up to the plate. Buttler has endured an underwhelming World Cup by his standards, with a highest of 42 in 5 innings. It becomes even more imperative for Buttler to fire if England are put into bat given an early morning start and how menacing USA spearhead Saurabh Netravalkar becomes in those conditions. Mark Wood would look to unsettle the USA batters with his fiery pace, something which they won’t be used to at the associate level. The Barbados track might be on the slower side but Wood has shown the ability to take the pitch out of the equation with his fast and full approach in the past.
Steven Taylor’s lean patch with the bat hasn’t augured well for USA in the World Cup. He dazzled with a 14-ball 24 against South Africa but fell for 2 in the game against the Windies. Nitish Kumar’s promotion to number 3 hasn’t yielded desired results either. USA will need to sort out their issues at the top of the order to surprise yet another Test nation before they bow out from a historic World Cup run.
When: USA vs England, June 24, 10:30 AM local time, 230 PM GMT, 8 PM IST
Where: Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados
What to expect: If Shai Hope’s ballistic 82 off 39 deliveries on Friday night is of evidence, the Barbados track should be a belter for the USA and England game. However, the first couple of overs may see the ball nibble around a bit. Expect a high scoring encounter if USA hold their own with the bat.
Team Watch
USA:
Nisarg Patel is the only member of the squad who hasn’t been given a game in the tournament. With little to lose, it remains to be seen if USA are audacious enough to play 3 left-arm spinners in the eleven given the predominance of right handers in the England line up.
Probable XI: Steven Taylor, Andries Gous (wk), Nitish Kumar, Aaron Jones (captain), Corey Anderson, Milind Kumar, Harmeet Singh, Shadley van Schalkwyk/Nisarg Patel, Nosthush Kenjige, Ali Khan, Saurabh Netravalkar
Team Watch
England:
Liam Livingstone remained under injury cloud before their first Super 8 game against the West Indies but the all rounder seems to have recovered well and was well oncourse to seal the game for England against South Africa with a sparkling 33 off 17 before being sent back by Rabada. There would be a temptation to play Tom Hartley on a slow wicket but England would look towards their pacers to put USA under pressure with some quality pace bowling.
Probable XI: Philip Salt, Jos Buttler (captain) (wk), Jonny Bairstow, Moeen Ali, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood, Reece Topley
